Pyongyang must listen to NATO’s concerns

North Korea must realize that its future depends on a normalized relationship with the rest of the world as a normal state.

North Korea on Wednesday fired off an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities confirmed the missile that blasted off from the outskirts of Pyongyang reached a maximum altitude of 6,000 kilometers (3,725 miles) and flew approximately 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) for 74 minutes at a lofted trajectory to fall into the sea west of Okushiri Island. The ICBM launch is the first since the North’s testing of Hwasong-18 on April 13 running on solid fuel, which can be harder to detect and intercept than liquid-fueled missiles.

The latest launch is believed to have been a face-recovering move for Pyongyang after the failed launch of a spy satellite on May 31 to flex its muscles ahead of July 27, marking the Armistice seven decades ago. The firing of the ICMB is also cleverly timed with the gathering of world leaders for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Lithuania and a meeting of joint chiefs of staffs of South Korea, the United States and Japan in Hawaii.

North Korea has lately referred to South Korea as the Republic of Korea, to snarl its hostility and give a show of force after threatening the U.S. A North Korean defense spokesperson claimed that the U.S. surveillance aircraft making a regular flight had invaded its airspace. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister Kim Yo-jong repeatedly warned the U.S. of “shocking consequences” if the U.S. continues reconnaissance activities around the country. The long-range missile was fired a day after the rant from the powerful sister.

North Korea, at the same time, vowed stronger ties with China and Russia in an apparent provocation to exploit the ongoing confrontation between the U.S. and China and between Western countries and Russia over the Ukraine war.

But Pyongyang must not overlook the growing negative international sentiment toward North Korea. The NATO summit raised a critical voice against North Korea. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attending the NATO summit as an observer emphasized before the leaders of Japan, Australia and New Zealand that the North’s launch of an ICBM when world leaders were discussing global security issues manifests that security over the Atlantic and Pacific cannot be separated. Leaders of South Korea and Japan pledged a joint response to North Korean threats.

NATO members, in a joint statement, urged North Korea to abandon its weapons program and pursue complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization. North Korea may have China and Russia on its side on the United Nations Security Council, but it should know that the magnitude of pressure from the international society is increasing. North Korea must realize that its future depends on a normalized relationship with the rest of the world as a normal state.